Loyalty runs deep through the veins of the Arsenal. Not just on the terraces where second and third generation fans are being squeezed out by the post ‘92 breed. But within the club the culture of loyalty goes back to the dawn of time itself.

This culture is one that makes our club special. Arsene Wenger recognized it when he arrived and inherited the famous five at the back. He also recognized in Pat Rice someone who was Arsenal and had been since growing up on their doorstep in the early 60s.

Servants to the club are part of our heritage and it was no surprise to use to see that David O’Leary and Tony Adams spent the best part of 20 years with the club and given the chance both would return the moment the phone rang.

It’s only recently that Bob Wilson and Don Howe said their final goodbyes to the club they had served with distinction over many years having trained together back in the days of black and white TV and red sleeved shirts.

Even now, as Wenger makes us ever more cosmopolitan, players come and go but behind the scenes there is a core that is undoubtedly Arsenal. Liam Brady, for example. Steve Bould is now working with the youth and David Court, once a team mate of Howe and Wilson, assists Brady. New on board is Steve Gatting who featured briefly back in the early 80s.

There’s more. Gary Lewin, our physio, started as a trainee goalkeeper at the time Gatting was trying to make his breakthrough; O’Leary already had. And while those three were running up the North Bank terracing or preparing for Leicester away behind the scenes Paul Johnson was setting up the Arsenal Travel Club to ferry fans over land and sea and Leicester. Johnson of course now reports to Arsene Wenger.

I grew up reading, and believing, once you’re Arsenal you’re always Arsenal. A look at the backroom staff shows you that. When you work for the Arsenal, where else can you go but down?

It’s this loyalty that ensured the dog days under Terry Neill lasted as long as they did before he was sent on his way. But even then Neill, ex-Arsenal player, ex-Arsenal manager, has made his peace with the club and is still made to feel involved.

It’s this loyalty that allows players to keep pulling on the shirt even when fans are baying for their blood. It’s this loyalty that saw the likes of Cygan, Carter and now Eboue given chance after chance to prove their worth. Forget the whinings of Bentley and Pennant, players with the right attitude are given the chance at the Arsenal.

But it’s also this loyalty that perhaps costs us trophies. Arsene Wenger feels he is building a team and he wants this team to grow as a unit. He is reluctant to bring in outsiders who may upset the balance in the dressing room or on the pitch. A more ruthless manager, a Fergie or a Jose perhaps, would have gone out and spent money to plug perceived weaknesses on the pitch or in the squad. Arsenal prefer to trust the players they have.

As a fan it can seem frustrating seeing Eboue and Hleb underperform week after week but then it’s the Arsenal way. When they are moved on they can never say they weren’t given a chance.

But perhaps now, even at the Arsenal, we are at the end of an era. Fans can no longer identify with players and it is difficult to see any of the current squad sticking around 10, 15 years and working on the backroom staff. The players, like the game itself now, is transient and supporters feel less and less a part of their club.

Bob Wilson is like an uncle I never met. He was playing when I first started following the Arsenal as a five-year-old, I then used to see him on the TV. He returned to the club and coached the goalies; Arsenal without Wilson seemed unthinkable, he was part of our extended family.

Today the team is a revolving door of exotic names from all over the globe but lacking anyone who is ‘one of us’ and that is a loss.

To read more of Jakarta Casual’s writing, his blog can be found here